GAIMAN

On arriving in the city of Gaiman, some 17 km west of Trelew, early in the morning, the traveller will most likely notice a strong fragrance of newly baked bread and will blissfully surrender to a fairy-tale picture of archetypal brick and stone buildings framed in a deep blue sky.

Parks and gardens; quiet streets with little traffic; the river, travelling through the city and leading one into a daydream landscape of thickly wooded stands of red-gold leaves, inviting the visitor to walk and learn about the ancient culture and traditions of the original inhabitants, that remain and are followed from time immemorial.

When one wanders along its picturesque streets, for example, one can barely resist the temptation of entering a tea room and trying an authentically traditional Welsh tea. You will certainly "spoil your taste buds", because your hosts are true masters of their art.

This tea is prepared according to an old recipe that gives it its special flavour and perfume. It will be served, of course, in delicate china worthy of fine, home-made confectionery and pastry. Usually these tea rooms include real collectors' items which are attractive to visitors.

Despite its name of native origin, meaning "whetstone" or "stone point", Gaiman is full of memories and reminders of the leader of the "Campaņa del Desierto" (Desert Campaign), after whom the main square is named: General Julio A. Roca.

Gaiman lies within the lower Chubut River valley. Here we can find one of the world's biggest industrial establishments processing seaweed (kale and kelp).

This was Chubut's first municipality. Its authorities took office on August 14, 1885, and for many decades Chubut was the prime agricultural and livestock production area of the Welsh colony.

It was also the headquarters of the first co-operative in Patagonia, perhaps the third to appear in the whole Argentine Republic.

Within the urban circumscription only the best cultivation methodology is used. In the early stages of the colony, the farms by the riverside were its main economic providers. These farms grew together with their main crops: wheat, barley, forage grains and vegetables.

Nowadays, Gaiman offers its visitors many lodging options, plus a wide range of exquisite food.

WHAT CAN ONE SEE IN THE CITY?
The most important buildings in the city are its chapels and churches; they have been for a long time the colony's nerve center. Much of the community activities were planned and decided in these buildings.

Local architecture left its mark on the old mansions which, thanks to the care of the municipality, are the a reason for pride of the local population and of admiration of the visitors.

Just a few steps away from Plaza Julio A. Roca lies the first house constructed in the city by a settler, David D. Roberts, in 1874. This is where Gaiman's first white native inhabitant, Idris Dewi Roberts, was born.

Facing the Town Hall stands the monument honouring Christopher Columbus, made of roughly-hewn local stone. It was unveiled on May 5, 1893 (it is said to be the first in the whole of South America) and on the four sides of its pedestal it carries inscriptions alluding to Columbus in Italian, Welsh Gaelic (Cymry) and English, as well as Castilian Spanish. The Welsh Regional Museum, in turn, displays some items from the time of their first settlement.

Another major construction is the present "Bethel" Chapel, enclosed by a leafy grove on the river bank.

Beyond this, at the edge of the coastal plateau, mysterious and imposing, lies a tunnel of the former Patagonian Railway (1914), which is over 200 m length and has a typically curved shape, opening its black mouth to tourists as though it were a silent witness to a time when trains ran through it, lifelines joining the hopes of communities of settlers.

Some other major sites of interest in this small town are:

The Regional Museum, in the old railway station.

The Ricardo J. Berwin library.

The tea room that Lady Di visited during her visit.

The eccentric house/museum of recycling, with surrealistic decor.